1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector assembly for a flexible wiring plate to be used in, for example, a wire harness and the like for a motor vehicle and an OA device.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
A wire harness for a motor vehicle is generally required to be water-proof. In particular, it is important to water-proof a connecting portion of an electrical wire in a connector.
For convenience of explanation, prior coated electrical wire and a flexible wiring plate will be described below by referring to the drawings. FIGS. 17 and 18 are cross sectional views of a coated electrical wire 3 and a flexible wiring plate 13.
As shown in FIG. 17, in the case of a wire harness which connects the coated electrical wire 3 to a connector 4, an elastic seal member 5 covers an outer periphery of a portion of the wire 3 to be coupled to the connector 4 so that a gap between the wire 3 and connector 4 is sealed water-proof the coupling portion or the wire for the connector 4.
In the wire harness described above, the seal member 5 closely contacts with the entire periphery of the electrical wire 3 and thus water-proofs the coupling portion of the wire for the connector 4, since a cross section of the electrical wire 3 is formed substantially into a circle.
As shown in FIG. 18, however, in the case of a wire harness composed of a flexible wiring plate 13 such as flexible printed circuit (FPC) or the like, even if an elastic seal member 15 covers the outer periphery of the plate 13 to water-proof the connector coupling portion, it is impossible to water-proof the plate 13 on account of a lower adhesive force existing at the corner of the elastic seal member 15 so that water enters into the connector through the clearance to lower an electrical connecting reliability, since a cross section of the plate 13 is formed into a flat rectangular shape.
For example, Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. 3-163771 (1991) discloses a construction in which a connector is coupled to an end of a flexible wiring plate such as a flexible flat cable (FFC), a FPC, or the like having circuit conductors covered with insulator films on two sides. In such a coupling construction, the insulator film on end portions of the flexible wiring plate is removed to expose the circuit conductor, the end portions are inserted into a wiring plate through insertion holes, and the exposed circuit conductors are connected with electrical terminals in a connector housing to make an electrical connection between the circuit conductors and the electrical terminals.
In the above connector coupling construction for a flexible wiring plate, however, water enters into the connector housing through the coupling portion and this results in a lowering of the electrical coupling reliability, since the wiring plate through-holes are not water-proofed.